Venetian blind and bracket therefor



y 1940. H; 0. LA GANKE VENETIAN BLIND AND BRACKET THEREFOR Filed Oct. 24, 1958 FIG-l Ilia/7,

INVENTOR HUGO C. LA GANKE 0 NEY or office buildings it is highly desirable to firmly and to the'tilting rail by tapes 4. As in the 5 10 rail which is transmitted to the tilter rail and be tilted to the desired angle by any convenient 25 vlde an improved bracket for Venetian blinds be notedthat the tilting rail 2 is Connected .25

. erence to the accompanying drawing, in which may be secured in place by improved means to .40

the opposite sides of a window frame; sequently only one ofthe brackets is shown in 45 Fig. 2 is a perspective View of my improved detail. f f v g 45 bracket showing the securing device in its'inoper- While my improved bracket may be formed Patented July 9, 1940 UNITED STATES FATENT GFFHCE- 2,207,517 VENETIAN BLIND AND BRACKET THEREFGR Hugo 0. La Ganke, East Cleveland, Ohio Application October 24, 1938, Serial No. 236,604

10 Claims. (Cl. s-17 My invention relates to Venetian blinds and Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawing, a Venetian more particularly to an improved bracket for blind of the usual construction-is illustrated, in supporting the head rail of such blinds. cluding a head rail l, a tilting rail, 2, and a In the installation of Venetian blinds in homes plurality of slats 3 which are connected together anchor the head rail in position. Otherwise, the usual construction, the bottom rail and the slats wind, or the movement of conveyances, such as may be raised by cords 5 attached to a bottom streetcars or heavy trucks past the building, has ,rail, not shown, and extending through slats 3 and the tendency to set up Vibrations in the head openings in the head rail. The slats may also adjacent slats and causes rattling of the blinds. means. As illustrated, a tilting device Which The aim of the present invention is to promay be of any desired fo is Secured t0 t vide improved means for fastening the ends of he d rail adjacent one d thereof and is p the head rail of Venetian blinds in place and for vided with a trunnion 1 extending into an open- 15 this purpose I have provided a pair or brackets. ing in One n of t e tilting i the other d 15 one of which is adapted to be secured to one of he tilting reilng Supported by abracket side or the front of awindow frame and the 8 provided with an opening'to receive a trunother of which is adapted to be secured to the nion 9 x n n from t pp i d of h opposite side or front of the Window frame, said head rail. As is usual in constructions of this brackets being provided with recesses to receive yp t elt g Tail 2 and t e slats associated 20 the opposite ends of the head rail and with h rewi h m y b j d o ny ir angle means for securely fastening the head rail in by exerting a Slight P1111 On O 0 the Ot er end place. of cord l0. e g

Another object of my' invention is to pro- From the construction thus described, it will which may be economically manufactured by a head mil 5 and consequently y e t f simple stamping and forming operation and vibration of the head rail will be transmitted which is provided with a recess to receive one to the tilting rail and the adjacentv slats, thereby end portion of a head rail which may be of varicausing in 0 t e blinda rdan h out widths, means being also associated with the my invention, I have p ed mp v d eens 30 bracket for securely anchoring the head rail in for securely fas ng the head rail to the win place. dow frame in such a manner that vibrations of A further object of my invention is to provide the head rail y b minimized or this puran improved bracket for Venetian blindsprovid- Dose I have provid improved brackets II and ed with a rece t ecei n d portion of a 82 attached to opposite sides of the window frame, 35

Venetian blind and in which head rails of varieach bracket being provided with flanges which ous widths may be inserted, securely fastened in extend in a direction opposite to the flanges on place, and easily removed when desired. the other bracket. Recesses are thus formed to My invention will be better understood by refreceive the opposite ends of the headrail which Fig. 1 is a front elevational view-of a Venetian be presently described. As shown in Fig. 1 of the blind showing the opposite endsof the head rail drawing, brackets v i l. and I2 are similar, that is, extending into recesses in brackets fastened to they are complementary to each other and conative position; of any desirable number. of parts or of any de- Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view on the line 3-3 siredinaterial, for purposes of illustration, asinof Fig. showing the end of the head rail in podicated more clearly in Figs. 2 and 3, it con- 0 sition in the recess formed in the bracket, the sistsof a sheet metal stamping of a ngular form, securing device being in its operative position; one leg of .which'is formed toprovide an interand "mediate body portion, I3, laterally extending Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view on the line flanges l4 and i5, and an endflange IS, the 4+5 of Fig. 3, showing one means of attaching flanges forming a recess to receive the end por- 5 5 the securing device to the bracket. tion of the head rail. From'the structure thus described it will be noted that the end portion of the head rail may be inserted between flanges I l and Iii and is limited in its inner movement by the flange IS. The body portion l3 may be of such a length that head rails of various widths may be inserted in the recess.

For the purpose of securing the end of the head rail firmly in position, the body portion is provided with a downwardly extending leg or arm I! having an inwardly extending lug is which is parallel to the flange l5 and perpendicular to a plane passing through flange l5. As shown in the drawing, the lug I 8 is spaced from one end of the flange l5 and the intermediate body portion I3 is provided with a notched opening IQ for permitting one arm of the securing device Zil to be forced into the portion of the wooden head rail extending into the recess.

While securing device 20 may be movably mounted upon the leg portion l! or upon-the lug IS in any desired manner to secure the end of the wooden head rail firmly in place, such as by means of a rivet or the like, as illustrated in Fig. 4 of the drawing, an annular flange is punched from securing device 2!] a short distance from one end thereof as indicated by the numeral 2!, which is inserted through an opening in lug I8, the outer end of the flange having a curled edge to pro Vide a pivotal connection between securing device 20 and lug l 8. A cutting portion 22 and a handle portion 25; are thus provided, the handle portion having a lug 24 by means of which it may be conveniently operated. As shown in the drawing, when the handle portion of the device is raised sufiiciently to permit theend portion of the head rail to be inserted in the recess formed by flanges l l, l5 and Hi, the end of the cutting portion is substantially flush with the outer side of the body portion l3. After the end portion of the head rail has been inserted in place, the handle 23 is moved downwardly, forcing the cutting portion 22 through the opening l9 and into the wood, cutting a groove in the portion of the head rail extending into the recess, and the weight of the handle will have the tendency to maintain the end portion of the head rail firmly in the groove which has been cut. The fastening device may be released from the head rail when desired, by raising the handle portionof the device attached to each bracket.

My improved bracket may be attached either to the side wall of the window frame as shown, or may be attached to the front wall of the frame. For this purpose the body portion I3 is provided with apertures 25 through which screws may be inserted to attach the bracket to the side wall of the window frame, and flange It is also provided with apertures 26 through which screws may be inserted to attach the brackets to the front wall of the window frame.

What I claim is: i

1. A bracket for supporting the wooden head rail of Venetian blinds, including a metallic frame formed of an integral metallic strip having upper and lower inwardly extending flanges, an intermediate body portion, a side flange, and an inwardly extending lug parallel to said side flange and substantially perpendicular to a plane passing through thelower flange, said flanges forming a recess to receive one end portion of said rail and the lower edge of the body portion being notched adjacent said lug to provide an opening leading into said recess, and a cutting device pivotally mounted on said lug in a manner to provide a comparatively short cutting portion and a comparatively long handle portion, said handle portion being adapted to be moved upwardly to afford access to said recess and downwardly to cut a groove in said rail, the weight of said handle acting by gravity to maintain the cutting edge of said device in said groove.

2. A bracket for supporting the head rail of Venetian blinds, including a frame having parallel upper and lower laterally extending flanges and an intermediate body portion which form a recess to receive the end of the head rail of a Venetian blind, said frame being provided with an opening below said recess, and means for securing said head rail in place including a substantially flat metal strip having an integral flange extending through said opening and provided with a curled edge which frictionally bears against the walls of the frame but permits pivotal movement of said strip on said frame.

3. A bracket for supporting the head rail of Venetian blinds including an angular member having a longitudinally extending leg and a downwardly extending leg, said longitudinally extending leg having an upper laterally extending flange and a lower laterally extendng flange which form a recess to receive the end of said head rail, said lower flange being of insufficient length to reach the downwardly extending leg, thereby forming an opening leading into said recess, and a securing device pivotally mounted on said downwardly extending leg and being adapted to be rotated in a plane which is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinally extending leg and having a portion which is adapted to be moved upwardly through said opening to cut a groovein said head rail which is substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of said head rail.

4. A bracket for supporting the head rail of Venetian blinds including an angular member having a horizontally extending leg and a downwardly extending leg, said longitudinally extending leg having an upper laterally extending flange and a lower laterally extending flange which forms a recess for the end of said head rail, said lower flange being of insufficient length to reach the downwardly extending leg, thereby forming an opening leading into said recess, and a securing device having a cutting portion and a handle portion pivotally mounted on the downwardly extending leg portion in such a manner that it may be rotated in a plane substantially perpendicular to the horizontally extending leg portion, said cutting device being pivotally associated with the downwardly extending leg in such a manner that when the handle of the securing device is raised the cutting portion is lowered below said recess and when the handle portion is lowered the cutting portion is forced upwardly through said opening and cuts a groove in said head rail extending substantially parallel with the longitudinal axis of the head rail and the weight of the handle serves to hold the cutting portion of said device in said groove.

5. A bracket for supporting the head rail of Venetian blinds, including an angular member having a horizontally extending leg and a vertical leg,'flanges extending laterally from the opposite edges of the horizontally extending leg, 0. flange extending laterally from the end of the horizontal leg, said flanges forming a recess to receive one end of said head rail and the flange on the lower edge of the horizontally extending leg being of insufficient length to reach the ver tical leg thereby providing an opening extending into said recess, a lug extending inwardly from the inner side of the vertically extending leg and a securing device having a cutting portion and a handle portion pivotally mounted on said lug and being adapted to be rotated in a plane which is substantially perpendicular to a plane passing through said horizontal leg, the head portion of said securing device being adapted to be moved upwardly to enable the end of said head rail to be inserted in said recess and being adapted to be moved downwardly to cut a groove in said head rail which is parallel to a plane passing through the horizontal axis of said head rail.

6. A bracket for supporting the wooden head rail of Venetian blinds including a frame having upper and lower inwardly extending flanges and an intermediate body portion which forms a recess to receive one end of the head rail, said frame being also provided with a portion extending inwardly below the normal level of the head rail having a device pivotally mounted thereon in a manner to form a short cutting portion and a longer handle portion, said device being arranged in such a manner with respect to said recess that when the handle portion of said device is moved upwardly free access is provided to said recess for insertion of the head rail and when moved downwardly the cutting portion of said device is forced into the portion of the head rail which lies in said recess, the weight of said handle serving to maintain the cutting portion of said device in the groove formed during the cutting operation.

'7. 'A bracket for supporting the wooden head rail of Venetian blinds including a frame having upper and lower inwardly extending flanges and a side flange, said flanges forming a recess to receive the end of said head rail, a lug attached to said frame below said recess and a device pivotally mounted on said lug a short distance from one end thereof, one end of said device forming a cutting portion and the other end a handle portion, said device being arranged with respect to said recess .free access is provided for insertion of the head rail therein, and when the handle portion of said device is moved downwardly and the head rail is in position in said recess the cutting portion of said device is forced into the bottom edge of the head rail located in said recess.

8. In combination with a head rail of a Venetian blind for windows, a pair of brackets, one' of which is adapted to be attached to one side of a window frame and the other of which is adapted to be attached to the other side of said frame, each of said brackets having flanges forming a recess and which extend in a direction opposite to the flanges of the other bracket, one of said recesses being adapted to receive one end of the head rail and the other recess being adapted to receive the other end of the head rail, each of said brackets having pivotally mounted thereon a device having a cutting portion and a handle portion, said device being mounted upon said brackets in such a manner with respect to said recesses that when the handles are moved upwardly free access is provided to said recesses for insertion of the ends of the head rail and when moved downwardly toward the respective sides of the frame on which the bracket is mounted and the head rail is in position with its end portions in said recesses, the cutting portion of each device is forced .into the head rail extending into the recess of the bracket with which it is associated to form longitudinally extending grooves in said head rail which are in substantial alinement with each other, thereby maintaining the head rail firmly in position.

9. A bracket for supporting the head rail of Venetian blinds including an integral stamping having two legs, one of said legs having flanges extending laterally therefrom forming a recess to receive one end of said head rail and a securing device having a cutting portion, and a handle portion pivotally associated with the second leg of said stamping in such a manner that it can be rotated in a plane substantially perpendicular to the first mentioned leg, said securing device being associated with said legs in such a manner that when it is rotated in one direction free access is provided to said recess for insertion of said head rail and when it is rotated in the opposite direction and the head rail is in place the cutting portion of said device is forced into said recess to cut a groove in said head rail which is substantially parallel with the longitudinal axis of the head rail.

10. A bracket for supporting the head rail of Venetian blinds including an angular member having a longitudinally extending leg and a vertically extending leg, said longitudinally extending leg having upper and lower laterally extending flanges, thereby forming a recess to receive the end of the head rail of the Venetian blind and a device having a handle portion and a cutting portion movably associated with the vertical leg in such a manner that it may be moved in a plane substantially perpendicular to the horizontally extending leg, said device being associated with said legs in such a manner that when the handle portion of said device is moved upwardly free access is provided for inserting a portion of the head rail in said recess and when the handle portion of said device is moved downwardly the cutting portion of said device is moved into said recess and cuts a groove parallel to the longitudinal axis of the head rail thereby firmly securing said head rail in said bracket.

HUGO C. LA GANKE. 

